Has anyone used Deltana Outfitters for a DIY hunt? Or if not, any other recommended outiftters for a DIY caribou in August?
Caribou
- Thread starter dcannon
- Start date
dallen0427
New Member
Where are you wanting to hunt, what sort of budget are you looking at?
Caribou are pretty easy to DYI, but access is the hard part. I know a few outfits that fly out of different areas, but the farther out you go, the harder (logistically and wallet) it gets.
Caribou are pretty easy to DYI, but access is the hard part. I know a few outfits that fly out of different areas, but the farther out you go, the harder (logistically and wallet) it gets.
AbrnRngr57
New Member
I've never used an outfitter and have always had great luck up on the haul road. In august you are just going to have to go a little farther north up road...you'll run into caribou. Call ahead to the troopers up at coldfoot to get a report in order to get a general feel for the numbers moving and current location. Good luck.
Highly recommend googling "alaska outdoor forum." The caribou topic is beaten to death on this site, and you will gain a lot of valuable information. I flew out last year from the Haul Road with a great company. They dropped us and we DIY from there. You will save a lot of cash that way. Like Dallen said, caribou are one of the easier DIY hunts, so explore that option.
dallen0427
New Member
Ditto....if I were an out of state guy looking for a DIY for caribou on a budget...haul road then fly out, or just haul road, but you'll have to put up with people around. I've hunted the haul road several times, lots of fun, sometimes a guy gets tangled up with someone else moving on the same caribou, but I've never really had any problems with the other guys around. When they are there, there are plenty to go around....when they aren't though.....its pretty country to look at. I like late August/Early Sep up there, but the weather is changing by then.
Thanks for the info guys. I have looked up the Alaska Outdoor Forums, and that is where I found the info on Deltana. I was just hoping to find someone with some personal experience that was not on the outfitter's reference list. I'm not really looking to save cash on the trip, just looking to have a DIY without any people around.
Hillbilly
New Member
Ralph the owner of Deltana is a really good guy. My dad had to hang out on the strip up at happy valley a couple years ago and Ralph invited him in for coffee. We were not clients but he treated us as if we were. Also I did meet several of his clients that were very happy. He does fill up fast but there are other options. If your still looking let me know I can point you in the right direction.
Hillbilly
New Member
Well my next question is how you plan on getting to your pick up point. If want to take a flight out of Fairbanks I would say Wrights Air would be my first choice. It cost more to get to the Brooks but then you do not have to deal with the logistics of getting to Happy Valley or Prudoe bay. Just so you know rental vehicle contracts are void if you take the vehicle up the Dalton Highway to prudoe. Prudoe is notorious for crappy weather and Ive spent several nights sleeping on the air taxi's floor waiting on weather to break.
You can fly commercial to Prudoe on Alaska air and have one of the Air Taxi's pick you up from there. Most outfits like Deltana fly out of Happy Valley which is a dirt strip an hour or so south of Prudoe. Mike McCary of 70 degree north is my first choice out of Happy valley only because I have used him several times. Also Dan Salior(Husky Air) does pickups from Prudoe and has a very good reputation.Others that ar reptable taxi's are Bushwacker, Beatles,Coyote. You can google any of these and their contact info will come up.
I hope some of that made sence. I could go on all night but I wont ramble.
You can fly commercial to Prudoe on Alaska air and have one of the Air Taxi's pick you up from there. Most outfits like Deltana fly out of Happy Valley which is a dirt strip an hour or so south of Prudoe. Mike McCary of 70 degree north is my first choice out of Happy valley only because I have used him several times. Also Dan Salior(Husky Air) does pickups from Prudoe and has a very good reputation.Others that ar reptable taxi's are Bushwacker, Beatles,Coyote. You can google any of these and their contact info will come up.
I hope some of that made sence. I could go on all night but I wont ramble.
If you go with Deltana unguided ,I would like to hear about it.That was going to be my trip for 2012.My father in law and brother inlaw
Went on that trip this fall 2011 and were very dissatisfied .There weren't any caribou were they had camp.When they flew back in to the main camp the guys who went on guided hunts had some real good bulls,so they felt a little bit like they were put in a gar hole so to speak.We've been looking for a new place to go since Clark Whitney retired and the Mulchatna is shut down to nonresidents.To be fair my in laws say they hunted hard ,but I know my brother inlaw hates to walk and my father inlaw was already scheduled for knee surgery in December .So I doubt they hunted like I would have.Anyway since they are who I was going with this year that one is off!
Went on that trip this fall 2011 and were very dissatisfied .There weren't any caribou were they had camp.When they flew back in to the main camp the guys who went on guided hunts had some real good bulls,so they felt a little bit like they were put in a gar hole so to speak.We've been looking for a new place to go since Clark Whitney retired and the Mulchatna is shut down to nonresidents.To be fair my in laws say they hunted hard ,but I know my brother inlaw hates to walk and my father inlaw was already scheduled for knee surgery in December .So I doubt they hunted like I would have.Anyway since they are who I was going with this year that one is off!
Hillbilly
New Member
Several options out of Happy Valley if you chose to not use deltana. I personally use Mike McCrary with 70 degrees north. Dan Sailor is also very popular he owns Husky Air.